Setting Up mIRC on Your Computer
Guide by Dav0s
Although slightly old school perhaps, IRC is still very prominent in the realms of online communication. Recently, mainly due to gaming, I felt that it was time that I began to learn how to setup, configure and use IRC. I can tell you that it was certainly not an easy experience, it is a hard thing to get into, and there is so much you need to actually learn and remember, such as commands. In this guide I will try to give you an introduction to IRC software and give you the knowledge needed to use it to your advantage.
For this guide I will be guiding you through how to use a piece of IRC software called mIRC. It is definately the most popular and has many options which cannot be set in other IRC software. You can get mIRC from here. mIRC is only a free trial, which runs out after 30 days, but after that it just keeps informing you that your trial has ran out, you can click OK and continue.
Before we get onto configuring mIRC let us just take a moment to go over some of the basic facts around IRC and how it works.
IRC is a huge series of 'chatrooms' which mostly anybody can join by issuing your client with a command, and you can then chat with anybody in the room, much in the same way you do with normal instant messaging. All chat rooms are stored on IRC servers, of which the most popular is called 'Quakenet'. SysXtreme also have our own IRC server, which by the end of this guide, you can connect to and chat with us on.
Each 'chatroom' or more commonly referred to as 'channel' has a unique name. For example, our gaming channel on the 'Quakenet' server is called #SX-Gaming. Notice the '#' that always proceeds before channel names.
Now then, let's begin to setup mIRC. After installing, open mIRC.exe. Now go to "Tools" and "Options". You will see a screen that looks like this.
Notice where I have highlighted. First thing you need to do is fill out that section with your preferred username. If you are in the SX clan, then please set your name as "SX-name" for consistency.
Next thing we need to do is to define a server to connect to. Firstly we will get you started on Quakenet because as I said, it is the most widely used.
Select "Servers" from the left panel window, and in the middle box click "Add".
Add the following information.
Description: Quakenet
IRC Server: irc.quakenet.org
Port: Leave as default
Group: Quakenet
Once you have done that, click "Connect to Server" in the "Server" Options window. Hopefully in the main mIRC window you should have a tab open up with the heading "Quakenet" and then your username. Congratulations, you are now connected to Quakenet.
Now that you are connected to an IRC Server, it is time to start joining "Channels". At this point, we will learn a bit more about how to navigate around IRC and also learn a few basic commands.
In order to join an IRC channel, you must use the command /join. It's syntax is as follows.
/join <<CHANNEL NAME>>
so for example you could type...
/join #SX-Gaming
Remember the # sign that always proceeds a channel name. Try doing this now, click the tab which says "Quakenet" and in the text box at the bottom of your window, type the command above.
Another command you should know is the /server command. This connects you to another server, such as the official SysXtreme IRC server! It's syntax is used like this.
/server -m irc.sysxtreme.com
The -m parameter opens it in a new window (I think). Now that you are connected to servers and channels, let us explain a bit more about using the channels.
In every channel there are people called "operators" or "ops". They are essentially channel commanders or moderators and they have the ability to kick, ban, change topic and many other things inside the set channel. You can identify operators as they are at the top of the list of people in the channel, and they have an @ sign proceeding their name. For example @SX-Dav0s.
The whole of IRC is commanded by giving people certain "modes". Modes are usually set by the ops and they control what privelages people have in the channel. The most common of these is +v or "voice". Voice is generalyl given to everybody who enters a channel, and it basically means that they have a status in the channel, not as good as ops, but they have the ability to talk when a moderating mode is on (+m).
Operators can set peoples modes by using the command /mode. It's syntax is used like this...
/mode <<USERNAME>> +v
+v can be replaced with whatever mode you like, such as +b for ban, +o for operator, or many others.
Operators can also set modes by right clicking somebody's username in the right panel of mIRC and selecting control, then the mode.
Now you have learnt a bit about the way IRC works, and how to navigate, we will work on customising mIRC to make life easier, starting with how to automatically connect to servers/channels on startup.
If you go back to Tools, Options and select the following box...
Click that and then tick the box saying "enable perform on connect". Then click 'Add' and select a server to specify startup commands for. Please note that to make a server appear in this box, it must be specified as a "group" in the Connect options. For information on how to do this, look above to the part about adding a server.
Once you have added a server, select it form the dropdown box and then you can begin to add commands to issue when you first connect to the server. Your perform box for irc.sysxtreme.com may look like this.
/join #SysXtreme
/join #SXradio
You can add whatever you want to this box, for example when you "auth" with the server, you will put your authorisation information in this box, and also if you wish to change your nickname on startup using the /nick command.
Now configure the perform dialogue to suit you, and now you are pretty much configured to run IRC, however if you want to learn a bit more, I will now tell you about "bots", especially those on quakenet.
The main bots on Quakenet are L and Q. Bots servei the purpose to permenantly idle in your channel, and ensure that nobody takes over them. L is meant for smaller channels, and Q for larger ones. They can also be configured to automatically make people operators, or automatically voice people as they enter a channel. To do this however, you must "auth" with Q. To auth with Q, follow this link.
You may then add the auth information to your Perform dialogue.
Also with mIRC, you can customise the colours of text and background, to make it mroe aesthetically pleasing. To edit colours, press Alt-K and choose a custom colour scheme to suit you.
You may also wish to know how to "highlight" or flash the window whenever somebody says your name to grab your attention.
To do this, go into options, and find "highlight" under the IRC menu. Tick the box saying "enable highlighting" and click "add" to add a word you wish to highlight. In the options tick the box saying "Flash Message".
There you go, you should now be well on your way to using IRC. I may add more features to this guide, as I discover them myself
Please feel free to ask any questions here, and I am sure one of our more experienced IRC gurus (mainly FragTek and enVias) will be able to answer you better than I can.
Guide by Dav0s
Although slightly old school perhaps, IRC is still very prominent in the realms of online communication. Recently, mainly due to gaming, I felt that it was time that I began to learn how to setup, configure and use IRC. I can tell you that it was certainly not an easy experience, it is a hard thing to get into, and there is so much you need to actually learn and remember, such as commands. In this guide I will try to give you an introduction to IRC software and give you the knowledge needed to use it to your advantage.
For this guide I will be guiding you through how to use a piece of IRC software called mIRC. It is definately the most popular and has many options which cannot be set in other IRC software. You can get mIRC from here. mIRC is only a free trial, which runs out after 30 days, but after that it just keeps informing you that your trial has ran out, you can click OK and continue.
Before we get onto configuring mIRC let us just take a moment to go over some of the basic facts around IRC and how it works.
IRC is a huge series of 'chatrooms' which mostly anybody can join by issuing your client with a command, and you can then chat with anybody in the room, much in the same way you do with normal instant messaging. All chat rooms are stored on IRC servers, of which the most popular is called 'Quakenet'. SysXtreme also have our own IRC server, which by the end of this guide, you can connect to and chat with us on.
Each 'chatroom' or more commonly referred to as 'channel' has a unique name. For example, our gaming channel on the 'Quakenet' server is called #SX-Gaming. Notice the '#' that always proceeds before channel names.
Now then, let's begin to setup mIRC. After installing, open mIRC.exe. Now go to "Tools" and "Options". You will see a screen that looks like this.
Notice where I have highlighted. First thing you need to do is fill out that section with your preferred username. If you are in the SX clan, then please set your name as "SX-name" for consistency.
Next thing we need to do is to define a server to connect to. Firstly we will get you started on Quakenet because as I said, it is the most widely used.
Select "Servers" from the left panel window, and in the middle box click "Add".
Add the following information.
Description: Quakenet
IRC Server: irc.quakenet.org
Port: Leave as default
Group: Quakenet
Once you have done that, click "Connect to Server" in the "Server" Options window. Hopefully in the main mIRC window you should have a tab open up with the heading "Quakenet" and then your username. Congratulations, you are now connected to Quakenet.
Now that you are connected to an IRC Server, it is time to start joining "Channels". At this point, we will learn a bit more about how to navigate around IRC and also learn a few basic commands.
In order to join an IRC channel, you must use the command /join. It's syntax is as follows.
/join <<CHANNEL NAME>>
so for example you could type...
/join #SX-Gaming
Remember the # sign that always proceeds a channel name. Try doing this now, click the tab which says "Quakenet" and in the text box at the bottom of your window, type the command above.
Another command you should know is the /server command. This connects you to another server, such as the official SysXtreme IRC server! It's syntax is used like this.
/server -m irc.sysxtreme.com
The -m parameter opens it in a new window (I think). Now that you are connected to servers and channels, let us explain a bit more about using the channels.
In every channel there are people called "operators" or "ops". They are essentially channel commanders or moderators and they have the ability to kick, ban, change topic and many other things inside the set channel. You can identify operators as they are at the top of the list of people in the channel, and they have an @ sign proceeding their name. For example @SX-Dav0s.
The whole of IRC is commanded by giving people certain "modes". Modes are usually set by the ops and they control what privelages people have in the channel. The most common of these is +v or "voice". Voice is generalyl given to everybody who enters a channel, and it basically means that they have a status in the channel, not as good as ops, but they have the ability to talk when a moderating mode is on (+m).
Operators can set peoples modes by using the command /mode. It's syntax is used like this...
/mode <<USERNAME>> +v
+v can be replaced with whatever mode you like, such as +b for ban, +o for operator, or many others.
Operators can also set modes by right clicking somebody's username in the right panel of mIRC and selecting control, then the mode.
Now you have learnt a bit about the way IRC works, and how to navigate, we will work on customising mIRC to make life easier, starting with how to automatically connect to servers/channels on startup.
If you go back to Tools, Options and select the following box...
Click that and then tick the box saying "enable perform on connect". Then click 'Add' and select a server to specify startup commands for. Please note that to make a server appear in this box, it must be specified as a "group" in the Connect options. For information on how to do this, look above to the part about adding a server.
Once you have added a server, select it form the dropdown box and then you can begin to add commands to issue when you first connect to the server. Your perform box for irc.sysxtreme.com may look like this.
/join #SysXtreme
/join #SXradio
You can add whatever you want to this box, for example when you "auth" with the server, you will put your authorisation information in this box, and also if you wish to change your nickname on startup using the /nick command.
Now configure the perform dialogue to suit you, and now you are pretty much configured to run IRC, however if you want to learn a bit more, I will now tell you about "bots", especially those on quakenet.
The main bots on Quakenet are L and Q. Bots servei the purpose to permenantly idle in your channel, and ensure that nobody takes over them. L is meant for smaller channels, and Q for larger ones. They can also be configured to automatically make people operators, or automatically voice people as they enter a channel. To do this however, you must "auth" with Q. To auth with Q, follow this link.
You may then add the auth information to your Perform dialogue.
Also with mIRC, you can customise the colours of text and background, to make it mroe aesthetically pleasing. To edit colours, press Alt-K and choose a custom colour scheme to suit you.
You may also wish to know how to "highlight" or flash the window whenever somebody says your name to grab your attention.
To do this, go into options, and find "highlight" under the IRC menu. Tick the box saying "enable highlighting" and click "add" to add a word you wish to highlight. In the options tick the box saying "Flash Message".
There you go, you should now be well on your way to using IRC. I may add more features to this guide, as I discover them myself
Please feel free to ask any questions here, and I am sure one of our more experienced IRC gurus (mainly FragTek and enVias) will be able to answer you better than I can.
